


Yellow Handprint

by Oreo_Believer



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: But mostly fluff, F/M, Fluff, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:15:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23816749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oreo_Believer/pseuds/Oreo_Believer
Summary: Leslie grabbed one of the rollers he’d set down as Ben got the paint ready. “Alright, now you’re sure you want yellow, right?”She nodded. “It’s a neutral, happy color.”He chuckled as he grabbed his own roller. “Alright, babe, let's paint this wall.”
Relationships: Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Kudos: 26





	Yellow Handprint

“Babe, it won’t fit.”

Leslie blew a strand of hair out of her eyes as she watched her husband try to rearrange the nursery again. He seemed to be doing this a lot lately, more now that her cesarean was scheduled. She knew this was just a stress relief for him, though, so she allowed it. She did, however, make him promise he’d put it back to normal before they had the triplets. The nursery currently looked chaotic, to say the least. 

Ben looked up, startled. He hadn’t realized his wife had been standing in the doorway. He looked back down at the rocking chair he was trying to wedge between the line of cribs and the wall. 

“I realize that now,” he admitted, hands leaving the chair to rub the back of his neck. “It also seems very impractical.”

Leslie laughed, walking towards him and pulling him into a hug the best that she could. Her stomach often got in the way, she was a little over five months pregnant but thanks to the number of babies she was expecting, she looked eight or nine months. 

Ben kissed her forehead, and then pulled back. “Well, you’ll be happy to know that today, I was not rearranging the nursery just for the hell of it. I figured today may be a good day to paint. You know, it’s warm enough to open the windows and ventilate a bit.”

“Ooo, that sounds fun!” Leslie took a step back, examining the wall behind him.

“Yeah, I thought so,” he said, chuckling. “Anyways, all the yellow paint is out in the garage. I’ll bring it up quickly.”

Leslie watched Ben leave, whistling at his butt as he left. She heard him sigh which made her cackle, and she returned her gaze to the bare wall. 

After a few minutes, Ben came back with a couple of cans of paint and some rollers. The wall had already been taped up, so all they had to do was dive in and start painting. 

Leslie grabbed one of the rollers he’d set down as Ben got the paint ready. “Alright, now you’re sure you want yellow, right?”

She nodded. “It’s a neutral, happy color.” 

He chuckled as he grabbed his own roller. “Alright, babe, let's paint this wall.”

They painted in silence for a few minutes, and they both fell into a steady rhythm, trying to cover the most wall they could without missing any spots. Everything went smoothly until Ben set his roller in the paint a little too hard, causing it to splash his unsuspecting wife.

He tensed up as he heard her gasp, looking down at her partially yellow ankle. Thanks to Leslie’s abundance of hormones, he could never be sure if she was about to yell, cry, or laugh. He slowly looked up and saw she was staring right back, a mischievous grin on her face.

His eyes widened. “Leslie, I know what you’re thinking, but please don’t-”

She cut him off in the best way she could think of, by dipping her roller into the paint and shoving it into his chest, immediately cackling. The mixture of shock and amusement on Ben’s face was totally worth the terrible laundry job that would be later. 

“Leslie. Barbara. Knope,” he said quietly, looking down at his chest. “He slowly bent down, an evil grin spreading across his face. He dipped his hand into a full can of paint, smiling up at her. 

Then, before Leslie had time to react, his hand was across her belly, leaving a handprint across her shirt. She chuckled, it actually looked pretty cute.

She reached her hands into the paint and flung it out at him, which prompted him to do the same, all the while laughing and smiling. 

The paint fight lasted five minutes and ended with Ben and Leslie laying on the floor together, covered with random splotches of yellow paint. 

They were still laughing about what had just happened when Leslie suddenly started crying. 

Ben would be more worried if he hadn’t been so used to this lately, but it still caught him off guard. 

“Oh, honey, what’s wrong?” He rolled onto his side and started stroking her head, it no longer mattered to either of them that his hands were still covered in wet paint. 

Leslie leaned into the touch. “I think it’s 70% hormones,” she said, chuckling a bit, but it didn’t really convince him and she could tell.

“What’s the other 30%?”

“Nerves.” She sighed. “I’m worried, Ben. What if I’m not a good mom?”

Ben knew this would come up eventually. Chris told him Ann went through this stage during her pregnancy as well. It made sense to him, he felt the same way every once in a while. 

“Babe,” he said softly, “you are going to be the sweetest, most amazing mother in the entire world. You have so much room in your heart, these three will be the most loved children on the planet.”

Leslie smiled, wiping her eyes and spreading more yellow paint on her face. “Thanks, I needed that.”

“I know,” he said, kissing her cheek. He stood up and reached down to help her up as well. 

When they were both standing, they looked at the half-finished wall and Ben slinged his arm around her shoulder. “What do you say we finish this?” 

Leslie looked down at her shirt, specifically the yellow handprint Ben had left earlier. She looked back up at him, a small smile on her face. 

“Actually, I have an idea…”

Four hours, a trip to the paint store, and lots of laughs later, Ben and Leslie took a step back and looked at the nursery. Three of the walls were white, and the furniture was rearranged to have the rocking chair by one wall and the changing table by another. The fourth wall, which had the triplet’s cribs up against it, was painted yellow. 

Yellow with pale green, pink, and blue handprints.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't great but I needed some fluff today. I also love the pregnant Leslie fics. Anyways, please enjoy! 
> 
> If you have anything you want me to write for these two, my Tumblr is truthbetheoreos.


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